In his recent bestseller The World Is Flat, Thomas Friedman argues that countries like the United States can no longer compete in the global economy on the basis of making and selling commodities. Their competitive edge increasingly comes from how well they produce products, services, and technologies that are new . . . special . . .…

Following decades of expansion in higher education, policy attention in OECD countries has begun to focus on the outcomes of higher education including how universities and other higher education institutions contribute to regional development. With the processes of globalisation and localisation, the local availability of knowledge and skills and…

This paper discusses gross economic and demographic trends in rural and urban America during the past 30 years, the kinds of competitive advantages enjoyed by urban and rural regions, and insights offered by the new regional economics concerning exploitation of those advantages. The importance of agriculture has declined in rural areas, while that…

Over the last 2 decades, the loss of population and businesses in many small, inland, and remote Australian rural communities has intensified, largely because of the stress and uncertainty of volatile world commodity markets. This manual presents a range of survival and revival strategies that some communities have used to build resilient…

The Inter-American Foundation (IAF), an independent agency of the U.S. government, works in Latin America and the Caribbean to promote equitable, participatory, and sustainable self-help development by awarding grants directly to local organizations. Its principal strategy is to support public-private partnerships that mobilize local, national,…

This report details the current American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) projects, publications, and legislative activities. The report outlines six strategic action areas: (1) National and International Recognition and Advocacy for Community Colleges; (2) Learning and Accountability; (3) Leadership Development; (4) Economic and Workforce…

This fact book for Columbia Basin College (CBC) (Washington) covers seven subject areas: (1) mission statement; (2) access; (3) academics; (4) career and workforce development; (5) basic skills; (6) cultural enrichment; and (7) physical and emotional well-being. Report highlights include: (1) in 2001, CBC presented to the Tri-Cities community a…

IMHE-Info is the newsletter published by the Institutional Management in Higher Education (IMHE) programme. This issue includes: Spotlight on IMHE and its Environment, including comments from Donald J. Johnston, Barry McGaw, Richard Yelland, and Marijk van de Wende. IMHE News, publications of interest and upcoming events are included.

The Malaysian government has adopted the creation of a fully developed economy by the year 2020 as a principal goal, emphasizing that the development should be economic, political, social, spiritual, psychological, and cultural. In order to develop the necessary human resource base to reach this goal, the country must strengthen the teaching of…

In 1992, the Metropolitan Tulsa Chamber of Commerce in Oklahoma established a welfare-to-work program called Industrial Exchange, Inc. (IndEx). IndEx provides welfare recipients with a combination of education activities and work experience. By contracting with local companies to perform light manufacturing and packaging work at a central site,…

This paper discusses the increasingly corporatist mentality within higher education, focusing on the role of the government within Canada, and elsewhere, to reshape higher education into narrow occupational training. It notes that while governments in Canada and the United States have reduced public funding for higher education, they have pursued…

The role of distance education as a vehicle for delivering continuing education in Asia was examined from the following standpoints: facilitating development amidst poverty; making human resource development the prime strategy; overcoming the stagnation of education amidst wrenching change; and using distance education to accomplish those…

Fourteen economic development practitioners were asked to participate in a modified Delphi study that attempted to provide a level of agreement about future trends and issues that affect economic development at the county level in Ohio. Literature from several fields was reviewed to find potential trends and issues and, using a Likert-type scale,…

This paper outlines the strategic action areas and initiatives of the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) for 2002. The six action areas outlined are: (1) national and international recognition and advocacy for community colleges; (2) learning and accountability; (3) leadership development; (4) economic and workforce development; (5)…

Asset mapping involves documenting tangible and intangible resources of a community viewed as a place with assets to be preserved and enhanced, not deficits to be remedied. Kretzmann and McKnight (1993) are credited with developing the concept of asset-based community development (ABCD) that draws on appreciative inquiry; recognition of social…